Lazy Sun and Late Morning
by delicateswa-n
Summary: A very short scene of Bella waking up and noticing how Edward isn't as cold as othertimes. Oneshot.


I knew he was here before I opened my eyes.

Of course, I probably should know. He was here almost every morning, after all. But I liked to think that it was something more, a sort of subconscious understanding of his presence. I smiled at that, which gave me away.

"Good morning, love."

My eyes fluttered open to reveal his face, only inches from my own. I wasted no time in closing that small distance and snuggling up to him. I tucked my head under his chin.

"Good morning," I muttered sleepily into his chest.

He chuckled, and I smiled again.

I took a deep breath, drowning myself in his scent. I didn't want to move. The haze of sleep hung in my mind, warm and comforting. It matched the space around me, which was swimming with warmth and sunlight.

This was my heaven. The sunlight warmed my back, and I was cocooned in blankets. I would have actually been _too_ warm, had it not been for the chill of Edward's skin. I idly wondered why he was still so convinced that I should resent the temperature. I had a sneaking suspicion that it had something to due with my complaints about the weather here. The _cold_ weather. Still, couldn't he see that it wouldn't matter? He was my safe place, my shelter. I would long for his arms even if they set me shivering at every touch.

And, actually, now that I thought about it, he didn't feel all that cold.

"You know, I think you blow the whole temperature thing out of proportion." I mumbled.

"And why do you think that?"

"Well, first off, it really doesn't matter and you should just stopped being concerned about it at all." I felt him sigh. "And secondly, it's really not so bad."

He laughed again, but I wasn't sure what exactly he found amusing. I was about to ask when he explained.

"Bella, you may not realize this, but I'm actually much warmer than usual right now, which makes your evaluation rather biased."

"Huh?"

"I just spent all night here, with you, which in this case is fairly similar to sitting next to a heat lamp all night. Here, feel." He gently placed his hand on my cheek and I could tell, now that I was more awake, it was definitely more similar to my own body temperature. Huh. I wondered how I hadn't noticed before.

The confusion must have showed on my face, because Edward suddenly seemed concerned.

"Of course, perhaps it only really feels different to me. I still am probably quite a bit colder—"

"No, no that's not it. I was just wondering how I hadn't noticed before."

"Oh. Well, in your defense, it is a very gradual thing and you aren't quite at your most observant in the morning."

I rolled my eyes. I might have even been mildly upset over how smug he was being, if I hadn't been immediately distracted by his fingers running gently through my hair. He was gently brushing the loose strands out of my face, following them all the way down to my back. I sighed, whatever irritation I had worked up was hopelessly lost.

"I'm sorry," he murmured as he kissed my forehead. "That was mean."

"It's fine, really. It wasn't mean."

"But it upset you." So he had noticed my brief flare of resentment.

I sighed. "But it doesn't matter. I had no reason to be upset – well, excluding the fact that you are always absurdly smug." I looked up at him a smiled, to make it clear that I was only joking. "And besides, I really am rather…focused…on other things most mornings." No sooner were my last words out of my mouth than I was pressing it to his. He seemed only slightly surprised as I wove my fingers into his hair. I felt him move on top of me, pressing my head back down into my pillow. Just as I was running out of breath, he pulled away with a smile.

I smiled too, or rather, attempted to smile through my embarrassing gasps. He bent down to kiss my forehead once before rolling over beside me. I wasn't thinking particularly well, being both sleepy and under-oxygenated, and a small whimper escaped me in reaction to his sudden distance. As soon as I registered that the sound had indeed come from me, I tried to turn and hide my face in embarrassment, but his arms were already around me and before I could turn he was holding me on top of him. I pressed my face into his tee shirt as he laughed.

"Bella, my silly, precious Bella…" I felt him shake his head. "I love you."

Those three words. He said them so often one might worry that they would perhaps lose their potency, but such was not the case. It couldn't be. Not with the weight and the depth they carried each time. There was no such thing as a casual "I love you" with Edward. And I like that.

"I love you, too." I replied, and we lay there until the sun was high in the sky.


End file.
